2009 Audi A3 - Low Miles, 2.0 Turbo, Sunroof & Leather on 2040-cars

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Volkswagen Group sales down 15% in pandemic year, but EV sales up 214%

FRANKFURT, Germany — German automaker Volkswagen said its global sales fell 15.2% during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but showed significant recovery toward the end of the year. The company more than tripled its sales of battery-only vehicles. Global sales for all of Volkswagen's brands amounted to 9.3 million vehicles. The fourth quarter showed a smaller decline of 5.7% and within that quarter the month of December was still further improved, showing a shortfall of only 3.2% from the same period the year before. Volkswagen said Wednesday that sales fell the most in Western Europe, by 21.6%, while China, the company's largest single market, was down 9.1% Sales of battery-only cars jumped 214% to 231,600 from 73,700 across all the company's brands. The company's electric sales leaders included the Volkswagen ID.3 compact, with 56,500, the Audi E-Tron SUV with 47,300, and the high-end Porsche Taycan with 20,000. Volkswagen said that its sales fell by less than the overall market, meaning it had slightly expanded its market share. “The COVID-19 pandemic made 2020 an extremely challenging year,” said group sales chief Christian Dahlheim. “The Volkswagen Group performed well in this environment and strengthened its market position." Volkswagen Group's brands include Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, SEAT, and Skoda as sell as truck makers MAN and Scania.

Audi updates A3 with Virtual Cockpit, more goodies

Audi has announced a series of updates to the A3 family. And though we're still waiting for confirmation on its arrival here in North America following its introduction back in Europe next month, the revisions bode well for Ingolstadt's baby. Chief among the enhancements for the latest A3 is the inclusion, as promised, of the company's Virtual Cockpit infotainment system. One of our finalists for 2016 Tech of the Year, the Virtual Cockpit moves many of the controls and menus you'd expect to find in the center console display into the instrument cluster to make them easier for the driver to navigate (albeit at the expense of a co-pilot's assistance). Audi also used the occasion to install some of its latest driver assistance systems, including active lane assist, pedestrian protection, and available traffic jam assist that helps the vehicle crawl along in bumper-to-bumper conditions. The revised A3 also features new front and rear fascias, incorporating a sharper grille and new head- and taillights, with available Matrix LED units up front. Globally speaking, Audi is offering the updated model with six different engines – three gasoline and three diesel – including a 1.0-liter inline-three for the first time. There's the hybrid E-Tron model as well, and the flex-fuel G-Tron model that can run on natural gas. More enticing though is the new S3, which benefits from a ten-horsepower boost to produce a more substantial 310 hp and as much as 295 pound-feet of torque. With sedan, convertible, and three- and five-door hatchback bodystyles, that makes for a lot of combinations, though not all engines will be offered in all forms. Watch this space for word on US availability. In the meantime, you can scope out all the details on the various variants in the press release below and the high-resolution images in the exhaustive gallery above. Related Video: Technology Update for the Compact Bestseller – the new Audi A3 - New engines: 1.0 TFSI and newly developed 2.0 TFSI - Infotainment and assistance systems from the full-size class - First deliveries in summer The successful model from Audi is now even more attractive: The Audi A3* approaches the starting line with new driver assistance systems and engines as well as newly designed headlights and taillights. Also new on board is the innovative operating and display concept, Audi virtual cockpit. The new A3 is available in a three-door version and as a Sportback, a sedan and a Cabriolet.

Race Recap: Rolex 24 at Daytona was fast and feisty

Let the record show that victory at the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona went to the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Target/Ford EcoBoost Riley DP driven by Verizon IndyCar drivers Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan and NASCAR drivers Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson. The winner did 740 laps to cover 2,634.3 miles in 24 hours and 57.667 seconds. That's a statement to this year's pace in spite of 18 cautions, two more than last year: the Michael Shank Racing Ligier got pole with a time of 1:39.194, slower than last year's pole time of 1:38.270; however, the winning car last year only did 695 laps. The fight for top honors was shaved to a four-car battle over the first third of the event. The No. 02 Ganassi car took the lead on the first lap, swapping it well into the night with the No. 01 Ganassi car, the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP, and the defending champion No. 5 Action Express Corvette DP, all of them staying within about 20 seconds of one another. The Action Express car had a fuel connector come loose and lost three laps getting towed back to the pits to have it reattached, but was back in the lead 18 hours in. The No. 01 Ganassi car dropped out with recurring clutch problems 22 hours in, retiring not long after. A race-within-the-race is where the concluding action happened, a seven minute, 30-second dash from the end of the last caution to the checkered flag. During the penultimate pit stops with an hour to go, Dixon was in second place followed Jordan Taylor in the Wayne Taylor Racing DP into the pits but beat him out, taking the lead. The Action Express car was in third. In the last pit stops of the race, Dixon gained even more time, getting a four-second advantage over Taylor. Then a full-course caution came out twenty minutes before the finish when a Prototype Challenge car hit the wall and caught fire, bunching up the field. That closed the pits, but the Wayne Taylor Racing car had to pit during that yellow because of a miscalculation of driver time. No driver can be behind the wheel for more than four hours in a six-hour period but Jordan Taylor was going to go over, so he came in to swap out for brother Ricky. That cost the team any chance of second place, since they took an additional drive-through penalty for entering closed pits. When the track went green again, Sebastien Bourdais in the Action Express car stayed all over Dixon for the final five laps but couldn't get around him.